1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to floor maintenance machines. More specifically, the invention is a wet vacuum for removing stripping chemicals and/or compounds from floors.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of floor maintenance machines have been devised for restoring or cleaning and drying floors. In earlier designs, between the era of 1953 and 1967, in particular, cleaning and drying features of conventional floor maintenance devices were provided as separate or decoupled operative features. This was primarily due to the detrimental effects of moisture on the electrical components and the lack of available technology at the time to render the conventional devices operative as electrically coupled systems. The need for available on-board power as an independent power source also contributed as a secondary issue to the apparent lack of a technical remedy during this era. The following references describe floor maintenance devices which attempted to remedy this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,635,277 issued to Belknap discloses a suction-operated device for scrubbing and drying floors. The structure of the device is particularly directed to a housing which is adapted to contain a specified amount of a selected liquid cleaner. The liquid cleaner is introduced into the housing through a filler opening formed in a top wall and adapted to be closed by a cap mounted on the top wall.
The rear section of the ""277 device has a bottom wall which is inclined upwardly with respect to the front section at an angle of 10 degrees and a scrubbing brush is secured against the bottom wall section adjacent the rear edge via mechanical screw fasteners anchored in flanges. The bristles of the brush project below the bottom edges of the flanges and are engaged with the floor surface to be cleaned by tilting the front side portion of the housing. The vacuum cleaning mechanism is inoperative during scrubbing to prevent moisture or liquid from entering the vacuum. Similar devices are described in U.S. Patents issued to Rosenberg (U.S. Pat. No. 3,063,082) and Sheler (U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,591) which operate based on the supply of alternating current (AC). Later models replaced fixed bristles with rotating cleaning brushes.
U.S. Patents issued to Collier (U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,051) and Waldhauser (U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,233) disclose cleaning machines which utilize a rotating cleaning brush. Of particular note, the patent issued to Collier discloses a brush which is housed within a casing having rear wheels and which is rotatably activated or driven via a set of drive belts which link the brush to a motor. At the front end of the housing adjacent the brush, a channel shaped nozzle shoe is mounted to the casing and is held in place by bolts and is sealed by a silicone sealant to prevent leakage therearound. A hose which is centrally located with respect to the casing and adapted to a channel formed therein is in communication with the nozzle through which spent cleaning fluid and dirt is vacuumed into a recovery tank not shown in the drawings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,056 issued to Geyer discloses a scrubbing machine with a tracking squeegee. The machine has a body portion which is supported on a pair of drive wheels and a pair of pivotable casters. The squeegee is drawn by a principal arm and the location of the squeegee is controlled by a steering arm. The squeegee is pivotally connected to each arm, the arms being mounted to the underside of the body portion at two distinct pivoting locations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,010 issued to Burgoon discloses a floor scrubber comprising a mechanism for automatically raising and lowering a squeegee assembly. The scrubber includes front wheels which are driven by a motor connected to the wheels via belts and pulleys when a moveable handle is manipulated. When the lever is directed forward the wheels are activated for forward motion and vice versa. The motor is connected to the wheels by friction discs when the handle is pulled to move the scrubber rearwardly. When the handle is pushed, the mechanism including a switch is operated to lower the squeegee assembly, and when the handle is pulled the mechanism and switch operates to raise the squeegee assembly. The lever for operating the squeegee is a spring-loaded mechanism.
Other U.S. and Foreign Patents respectively issued and granted to Hauge et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,246), Huffman et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,365), Suzuki (U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,260), Hoover (GB 855,613) and Pletenski (SU 248921) disclose conventional vacuum cleaning devices comprising squeegee features or water extraction devices of general relevance to the wet vacuum as herein described.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a wet vacuum solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The wet vacuum according to the invention is designed to remove floor stripping chemicals and residual water left behind from a floor stripping machine. The vacuum system is portable, battery operated and houses a storage reservoir constrained via a set of straps on a rollable base. A vacuum box is operatively mounted to a motor and includes moisture reduction features which reduce moisture accumulation in and around the motor via an adapted flow path and drain channel. A single lever and rear activated squeegee mechanism which is in fluid communication with the vacuum system is selectively lowered and raised for removing floor cleaning chemicals and/or other liquids from the surface of a floor. An interior mechanical brace assembly is also featured to prevent reservoir buckling from vacuum pressure. A simple control panel is mounted to the front face of the wet vacuum housing to monitor battery power and switch the system on or off, and has a conduit for recharging an internally housed direct current power source.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved wet vacuum for removing stripping chemicals and/or liquids from floors.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved wet vacuum which alleviates moisture accumulation from the vacuum box to the motor or electrical components for extended life and use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved wet vacuum which utilizes an interior reinforced reservoir mechanism which prevents buckling from vacuum pressure.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved wet vacuum which utilizes a combination sweep arm and tilt mechanism for selectively manipulating a squeegee without the need for spring loaded mechanisms.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.